That's the reaction from kids who attend the Jump Start math and literacy camps in Broomfield, which combine the high-energy fun of summer while keeping children's math, reading and writing skills sharp.

The goal is to battle "summer slide," or the idea that some students can fall behind when school begins in the fall, because they have not practiced math, reading or writing skills over the summer.

Jump Start is divided into math and literacy camps, which meet at churches around Broomfield. Broomfield United Methodist Church and Lutheran Church of Hope donate space for this year's camps.

Volunteers, many of whom are retired teachers or college students interested in teaching, lead lessons and activities for kids during each two-week session. The children come from nearly 30 elementary, private and charter schools in the area.

The literacy camp drew about 40 students, while the math camp drew about 65.

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Volunteer camp leaders plan art projects, story times, recess and plenty of games to keep children excited to learn.

"They don't just stick you in a room with a book and tell you to read. They make it fun with games and things," said Julianne Tibbetts, a sixth-grade student who participated in the literacy camp for three years before returning this summer as a camp volunteer.

At math camp, kids used decks of cards, dice, coins, interlocking building toys and even food to explore and memorize math concepts.

In the literacy camp, students focused on reading and writing activities that highlight the art, culture and traditions of faraway countries, such as Egypt and Brazil.

Marian Abboud, who started the free, volunteer-run program eight years ago with co-creator Eleanor McKinley, said Jump Start camps are a way to address the summer slide while making learning fun and interesting.

Abboud runs the math camp, which wrapped up last week; McKinley runs the literacy camp, which continues next week.

At the math camp, the most popular lesson involves a favorite food — pizza.

During a lesson about fractions, children stood around a pizza as a volunteer instructor cut it into segments. Before the students could reach in and grab a tasty slice, they had to figure out what fraction of the pie they were putting on their plate.

With an incentive such as a hot slice of pizza, students concentrate better and challenge themselves to pay attention, Abboud said.

"The pizza is always a favorite," Abboud said.

In another classroom at math camp, students used small white boards to do multiplication problems. They held up their answers and explained how they arrived at them.

Nancy Taylor, a volunteer teacher with a background in teaching high school science, said her third-grade campers wrestled with everyday math topics, such as counting money and telling time.

The kids are far from bad students — they just live in the digital age, where grocery purchases are made with debit cards instead of cash and digital clocks tell time instead of round analog clocks.

It's essential to help convince children to learn skills, such as counting back change and telling time, but making those skills into games and activities can help motivate them to use the skills outside of the lesson, she said.

"It's about getting kids to be confident about math. I love math, but some really don't," she said.

The games and high-energy lessons have won over students such as third- grader Josef Erasmus.

"You get to do math games, like math bingo, and it's really fun," he said.

Meanwhile, at the literacy camp, building confidence also is a goal.

On the first day of literacy camp this week, kids raced through the halls with bags of snacks before settling into their assigned classes. Some students began to study the art and culture of Egypt, while others dove into picture books that told international versions of the Cinderella story.

Myrna Prentice, a retired teacher who volunteered to lead fifth-graders during the literacy camp, said her students are curious and interested in the subject matter in front of them.

Prentice and co-teacher Nate Bean mix it up by playing word games, reading stories and letting children outside to play during the day.

LEAPING INTO LITERACY: Carter Wimmer leaps from letter to letter spelling out words on a mat during Jump Start Literacy Camp at Lutheran Church of Hope on Tuesday. See more photos of both literacy and math camp at BroomfieldEnterprise.com. (Mark Leffingwell / Boulder Daily Camera)

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